The amazing world of LEGO® Technic constructions.
Based on the vision from Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891-1958), a carpenter from Billund/Denmark, whose personal motto was "Only the best is good enough" - Leg Godt (Play Well).

TechnicBRICKs blog (TBs hereafter) is devoted to the LEGO Technic theme and intends to spot mainly on news and developments, rather than new sets reviews or users creations (aka MOCs). However you will also find them here occasionally...

Friday, November 30, 2007

Well... it is not a secret nor the first time, I confess that 'Excavators' are my favorite subject to see built with LEGO TECHNIC.
Take a look at some, photographed from LEGO events as detailed below and some other sources I've been finding along the time:

LIEBHERR A 314 Litronic Mobile Excavator, model at '75 years of LEGO' event in Billund, 2007.Aug.9-11

Edit(2009.08.29):Found later, this to be a creation from Beat Felber, who runs the Engineering with ABS website.
Find many more and a video about this model here, or the author's announcement at LUGNET.
This model wasfirst built, back in 2005 to exhibit at the Suisse Toy Fair.

Edit (2009.08.29):Later I've also found this is a model from Anders Gaasedal, a well known Danish TECHNIC and Model Team builder.
You may find some magnificent models at his website "LEGO Trucks and Cranes", however not this Excavator which was left as an ongoing project in Jun.2005 and never fully documented.

A comment left at this post by a French builder, raised the question about origin of this excavator pneumatic cylinders. I'm not sure whether they are functional or not, however I believe they are. Likely custom made and not a LEGO prototype as I've first suggested to be one possibility in the comments section too.
I have meanwhile contacted Anders, asking for more information (a video would be really nice...) about this model and its pneumatics.

Edit (2009.09.03):Have meanwhile just realized , that Anders turned LEGO Designer in between [btw a TECHNIC designer (Goose Valley)], so it makes very unlikely to get an answer with further details about the cylinders. But on the other way it would make our chances to get a decent official TECHNIC Excavator with longer pneumatics in the future, somehow higher...

Edit (2010.02.15):I got an answer, so here I leave some quick-specs about this model functions, and the confirmation that this is a full functional model.

Individual driving on each track, driven by one 9V motor each.

One 9V motor for turning the superstructure.

Two 9V motors for driving the 4 cylinder pump. Also equipped with pressure-valve.

The boom is fully pneumatic driven with non-lego industrial cylinders (customized to fit into the LEGO system).

The end of the boom is equipped with pneumatic quick-shift, which allows for 'remote controlled' shovels exchange.

The model can be driven both by batteries (also used as counterweight) and with external AC supply.

And another LIEBHERR model (R996) from Thomas J. Avery, shown at his TEXBRICK website.

Model details here. This model was finished and exhibited the first time in 2002 at BrickFest (Oregon, US).

Full external pneumatic control with compressor placed internally to the model.

Later Additions

LIEBHERR R974B (Top) and LIEBHERR A904B (Bottom), are another example of great excavators made with LEGO TECHNIC for the time.
These were built by Dennis Bosman (another well known Dutch TECHNIC and Model Team builder) and completed respectively in 2000 and 2003.

My main note about these models, would go to highlight that pneumatic cylinders are dumies made of non-LEGO plastic and aluminum pipes. Thus the way Dennis imagined to lift both excavators' boom and operate digger arms or bucket (in one model), was using ropes coiled into a motorized reel or fishing rod.
If you take a close look into these models images on the right side, you will be able to find the mentioned ropes.

A video from the latest A904B model in operation, can also be seen from YouTube.

CASE CX800, an 80t excavator made of LEGO by a French builder (pithivier57) in 2009.

Main characteristic of this excavator, are its 4 custom made extra long pneumatic cylinders.

You may find some other photos from this model at the author's BS folder and also several demonstration videos can be seen at YouTube, from which this is an example.

If you know any other good example, please feel free to tell me, or to add it into the comments.

Edit:As this is still of of my favorite posts here at TBs , I decided to make it a kind of 'Hall of Fame' for some best TECHNIC Builders excavators or even excavators that somehow stand. Thus started to add some I found meanwhile, immediately below Thomas' model (the LIEBHERR R996), as "Later Additions".

Also added some information meanwhile found, about Gaasedal's VOLVO model.

10 comments:

It is because of marvels like this that I hope LEGO launches an excavator of their own, but in size/functions bigger than the 8149!Sure, yet another construction vehicle may get boring, but this would be a great chance for LEGO to come up with bigger turntables (preferably with bearings) and pneumatic Power Functions elements.Oh well, let's wait and see what is in store (or better yet, what will be in store) for us next year.

Good news! Lego are bringing out one, the 8294 - Excavator, in late 2008. I hope to see pictures of it soon. These excavator designs are fantastic - I'm considering making one of my own. I wonder, how did they get hold of so many cylinder brackets? There 2 in 8421, and 4 in 8275, but to build model with eight is just incredible.

These are GREAT news!! ;)Wonder where did you get the info ;).Eagerly waiting to see images of such set!

Since 1st half 2008 TECHNIC sets, are all of small size and there is still a small excavator on sale (8419), guess this would be a larger one.Hopefully with some PF elements, and maybe new ones. Will I get the desired PF pneumatic integrated components???...

If they were used, the aspect should be like this,http://www.bricklink.com/TL/961.jpg

I believe all these models should have been built before the release of such part in 2005, or they simply do not use it all.

The design used in them is somewhat similar to what LEGO used in 8460/8431/8438 Pneumatic Crane, and looks like this,http://www.bricklink.com/SL/8438-1.jpgor this,http://media.peeron.com/scans/8438-1/28/

Anyway if they intend to use the 'Cylinder Brackets' you mentioned, they should be very easy to buy in large quantities at BrickLink.http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=56211&colorID=3

Well, this is going slow, but I've added a few iconic excavators into this post.

Also have found further details, about the Volvo excavator and its author, which I've added too.Contacted the author trying to know more about the pneumatic cylinders and will let you know here, if I find something.

Tomorrow, plan to feature the CASE machine, into a new and separate post.

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